Anyone who accidentally received the counterfeit money will not be punished, they’ll just have said money removed from their account. They will be able to keep any items bought with the money though.

“Those who actively engaged in cheating and exploiting the game in this manner will, however, be subject to in-game penalties at our discretion. This may include being placed in isolated cheater pools or banned from GTA Online altogether”, said Rockstar in a statement.

The GTA Online maintenance started in the early hours of this morning, January 16, but Rockstar initially failed to explain what updates and improvements it would make to the multiplayer experience.

“Should you ever encounter someone in GTA Online that appears to be taking advantage of exploits in your session, we ask that you alert us directly via the in-game reporting functionality. In the Pause menu, under the Online tab, select players and scroll to the offending player. From there, select Report and choose Exploits from the violation options.”

Rockstar apologised to anyone who had been affected by the GTA Online cheaters.

“We’re grateful for the community’s continued support in dealing with these issues and once again apologise to anyone that has had their Grand Theft Auto Online experience sullied by these explots that broke the game’s natural flow. Please stay tuned for lots more news about GTA Online in the weeks ahead.”